Life At The Ridge

As we have been looking at this letter to the Philippian church Paul has just expressed his joy and his love for all the believers at this church in Philippi. On the heels of his greetings, we find his prayer for this church 1:9-11. The prayer only covers three verses but yet it is a tremendous and spirit filled prayer for this church. I believe that the words Paul prays for this church comes from an intense desire for them to grow in their love and fellowship towards each other. What’s awesome though is this prayer is not just for this church at Philippi, this prayer is Holy Spirit inspired Scripture and therefore it is for every church and every believer. What makes this prayer so powerful? What is in this prayer that will help us as believers to foster unity and fellowship?

As we approach this letter to the church at Phillipi, Paul addresses the whole church “to all the saints” and the overseers and deacons. Many of the churches Paul planted were house churches and consisted of about 30 people. Each church was unique and different because of all the different make-ups of the people that were in each church. No doubt with all the differences, how did these early churches maintain unity and fellowship? Likewise how can we as a diverse church body achieve joyful fellowship?

Philippians 1:6 "And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ." The letter that Paul wrote to the church at Philippi just overflows with joy. Even when Paul penned these words under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit he is convinced and sure of the completion of the salvation process that will take place at the day of Christ. Remember where Paul was. He was in a prison. He had seen what God had done in the believers lives at Philippi and he himself with assurance knows that the work that God began in their life would also be the same God who would bring it to completion it on the day of Christ. What exactly though is this good work that God is doing in the lives of those who know Christ? Is it something that we do or only Christ? What will the finished work look like?

Paul’s letter overflows of Joy towards the believers here in Philippi and in his prayer for the believers here in Philippi Paul says that he prays with Joy. That phrase "praying with joy" is most interesting because not only of his circumstances, but regardless of his circumstances Pauls outlook in his prayer life is that of joy towards his fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. Today’s message is not so much of how to pray but more in why Paul could pray with Joy and I think it will give us a pattern to follow as well as we keep our focus on Christ.

Today we begin journeying our way through another book of God’s Word. In light of the most recent events that have erupted in our country I think it’s a good reminder to bring our focus back to the Word of God and renew our mind with the truths of Scripture. If we’re not careful we can be sucked dry by feeding on all the things that are going on and forget to renew our inner man. The book of Philippians speaks to our life and reminds us of joy, unity and fulfillment that we can find in Jesus Christ.

Over the past couple months we haven't been able to participate as a church in coming and remembering together. Why is this ordinance important for the believer? What do we learn from it by participating in it together?

In the world we live in we are very self-centered, very self-focused it's all about me. What can I get? How fast can I get it? If it hurts somebody else, it doesn't matter. It's all about what can we get for ourselves. Basically it comes down to I want it when I want it how I want it the way I want it, and nobody better get in the way of that. All of us struggle with selfish ambition and pride. What is the answer for the Christian to live a life without pride?

We’ve spent the past 8 weeks talking about fear and we have looked at several reasons why we shouldn’t fear and last week we talked about about to overcome fear. In this message we will explore some things to think about in terms of how as believers we should respond to this coronavirus pandemic. What should we be focusing on? What types of things should we be thinking about?

Over the past few weeks we have been talking about why we shouldn't fear, but how exactly do we change our habit of not fearing? Is there any hope for the fearful? God's Word gives us the how to and life and hope for our parched dry lives that have been made barren by fear.

We’ve been spending the last couple months on this topic about fear, and I hope these messages have not only resonated with you but also have pointed you to Christ as the only means by which we can deal with our fear. Romans 8 shows us that God's love far surpasses anything we can encounter in our lives.

Our Text here today is found in Psalm 24. This is the last Psalm what has become to be known as the Shepherd Psalm Trilogy. We get these glimpses of Jesus as our Shepherd in different roles as they are described for us in Psalm 22,23,24. In Psalm 22 we saw Jesus as the suffering savior and we need not fear because Jesus already suffered the curse of sin for us. He is the shepherd who laid down his life for the sheep. In Psalm 23 we saw Jesus as the guiding shepherd and we need not fear because it is Christ who gives us everything we need and it is Hi who guides His sheep. Psalm 24 is the last of the trilogy of these three Psalms. We see Jesus here as the Chief shepherd He is the king of glory who rules and reigns with all authority and power. It is only when we get an accurate view of who Christ is that fear, doubt, and faithlessness succumb to His ruling presence in our hearts.

Psalm 22,23,24 are known as the Shepherd Psalm Trilogy, as it covers Christ not only as the shepherd who gives his life for the sheep in Psalm 22, we see Him as the shepherd that guides us in Psalm 23, but then in Psalm 24 we see Him as the ruler and keeper of His flock. We all love the soothing words of Psalm 23 but what does it mean for Jesus to be our guiding Shepherd? In this message we explore how Jesus guides us in all circumstances.

There has been suffering in our world. Lives lost, weakened health, job loss, economy recession, and peoples hope and well being shattered. Is there any hope and healing for the believer in Christ? What about the unbeliever? Psalm 22 outlines for us a beautiful but rugged picture of the Suffering Savior Jesus Christ. In this message we will look at another reason why we shouldn't fear and particularly fear suffering. Jesus is our suffering Savior who bore in His body God's wrath. Let's praise God for His provision in our life and worship Jesus who became the suffering Savior on our behalf.

Today we celebrate what is known as the day Christ resurrected from the grave. In Scripture we are told that Christ rose from the grave on the first day of the week which is a Sunday. In reality when we gather together on Sunday we are celebrating Christs resurrection every Sunday. The death of Jesus is a glorious truth, foundational to our Christian faith.

How do you handle fear in your life? Do you stand strong or do you crumble? God's Word gives us some insight on how we are to handle fear.

Is is possible to find peace amongst all the troubling times? Is there any hope for those who are overcome with worry and anxiety? God's Word gives us a strong footing in a ever caving world.

Has fear gripped your heart recently? God's Word tells us over and over not to fear. As we look in Psalm 46 we see some dire circumstances and how God was at work through all of them.

Some practical application for our growth in Christ is learning how o be spiritually fit. Jude Souza was our guest speaker and shared with us not only the vision that God gave him and his wife Bree for mission work in Brazil, but also shared the Word with us about being spiritually fit.

One thing we cannot overlook is that the Christian life is a life of struggles, defeats and victories, but we have the Holy Spirit that helps us grow in our struggles, defeats and victories, and it is these struggles, defeats and victories that God is using to make us more like His Son Jesus Christ. What do you do in the times of weakness and inability? Do you rely on the flesh or the Spirit of God? Ultimately God is the one who does the sanctifying work in our lives!

The previous chapter leaves the believer in this place of constant struggle...The Law constantly revealing of how wicked we really are, and we cannot please God in the flesh, through the keeping of the law. So where is the victory? It’s found here in Romans 8 where there is no condemnation and no seperation!